"It's the truth, Sandy, and nobody knows it better than me. But the part I don't understand is why the body you're using has to fall apart in two weeks, if you leave it here."
"It is actually good for several months after the transfer. I've used up most of the time with my researches. But as to your question—surely you see why we can't leave a lot of displaced bodies cluttering up the past. The few pioneers who got stuck in previous periods were bad enough. They lived longer than anyone else of the periods, but they were taken as rare freaks of nature. If this happened on a larger scale, it would excite comment. Medical men would examine these people and find certain evolutionary developments—the secret would be out. In order to avoid that, the bodies grown artificially for transfer purposes have a built-in trigger mechanism. This also prevents anyone from over-staying his allotted leave. If I don't find a body to transfer back in within the next two weeks, I'll be dead."
"And if you do, I'll be dead," the old man said.
"I'm afraid so. Meanwhile, though, you'll have a young, healthy body to do with as you please, and some money to spend. It will happen suddenly; there will be no discomfort. I thought you looked like a man who would appreciate that. You would be cheated out of a decent funeral, however—there will be nothing resembling a body left to bury."
"Funerals!" the old man snorted. "Them as got nothing else to look forward to figure on fancy funerals. Me, I don't hanker after anything I can't be around to enjoy."
"I'm sorry I can't offer you more than two weeks, give or take a day. I was unavoidably detained."
"Can't be helped. I ain't likely to get a better offer, so I'm taking you up on it. And I admire you for an honest man. You could just as well of told me I'd have two years—or twenty. I'll do the right thing by you, too. I won't let out your secret—long as I'm sober, that is."
The young man from elsewhen smiled. "I'm not worried about that," he said, "Who would believe your unsupported statement?"
"You got a point there," the old man admitted. "Don't hardly believe it myself, till it happens. When do you do this switch business?"